Jean Paul Gaultier's inspiration for nautical sailor stripes comes from a recollection of his childhood, when his mother dressed him in sailor stripes. Gaultier was also influenced by Querelle de Brest, a film by Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1982) based on the novel by Jean Genet.

Rainer Werner Fassbinder's Querelle

To screw you, handsome adventurous cabin-boy
as the muscular sailors get hard beneath their pants
my love, my love, will you steal the keys
which will open for me
the sky of trembling masts?